Guides / AirDrop and strangers

AirDrop: stop strangers sending you pictures

Updated 3 November 2026 · By the FirstHour team

Short answerSet AirDrop to Contacts Only, or to Receiving Off when you're not using it. Only choose Everyone for 10 Minutes when you need it, because it switches itself back after 10 minutes. You can also turn on Sensitive Content Warning, which blurs unwanted nude pictures before you see them.

The three AirDrop settings

Apple's AirDrop page names three receiving settings:

To check yours, open Control Center, touch and hold the connectivity controls, and tap AirDrop. You can also use Settings, then General, then AirDrop.

When a stranger does need to send you something

The person receiving is the one who has to open up AirDrop. Apple's page is written for the sender: to send a file to someone who isn't in their contacts, the receiver opens Control Center and picks Everyone for 10 Minutes first. If both iPhones run iOS 26.2 or later, Apple says they're prompted to use an AirDrop code instead: the receiver taps Get AirDrop Code and tells the sender the code. So if you're the one being sent something, you'd choose Everyone for 10 Minutes, or read out your code. On the sender's side, Apple says the receiver is added to their Other Known List for 30 days, and they can mark that person as unknown in Contacts before then.

Our tip: if you turn on Everyone for 10 Minutes at a crowded place, like a train or a concert, turn it back to Contacts Only when you're done instead of waiting for the timer.

Blur unwanted pictures

Sensitive Content Warning is an Apple setting that applies to AirDrop on iPhone, as well as Messages, FaceTime and shared photo albums. Apple says it blurs a photo or video that may contain nudity and shows a warning first. You can tap Show, or tap the alert button to find safety resources or block the person.

  1. Open Settings and tap Privacy & Security.
  2. Scroll down and tap Sensitive Content Warning.
  3. Turn it on. It needs iOS 17 or later.

Apple says the detection runs on your iPhone, and that Apple doesn't learn that sensitive content was found or get access to the photos or videos.

If one gets through

How FirstHour helps

It doesn't control AirDrop, and it can't block anyone from sending you things. That's all in iPhone's own settings. Where FirstHour can help is the other way round: before you send your own picture to someone, Share can cover private details like card and ID numbers, and the copy you send has no location or camera details. It can miss things, so check the result.

Questions

Why does my iPhone say Contacts Only again?

That's by design. Apple says Everyone for 10 Minutes reverts after 10 minutes, to Contacts Only if you're signed in.

Do I get a warning before a picture arrives?

With Sensitive Content Warning on, a picture that may show nudity is blurred and comes with a warning. Pictures it doesn't flag arrive as usual.

Sources

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